We’re building roads to withstand last century’s climate

[Jeezy911]

How will these roads hold up in 500 years when temp is 1 degree warmer?

[ReD-EyeD]

I'm more amazed that there is a road construction design magazine.

[gioderpington]

You are telling me that roads built for 120 degrees cant with stand temperatures of 121 degrees?

That is unfortunately exactly how it works.

[cuafpr]

they also are not built to withstand the next ice age... Fix'em as they need repairs really all you can do.

[Rasulis]

Watching laymen squabble about material science is hilarious. Subjective experience does not make you an expert.

Our small engineering company has a full-service material testing lab (soil, rock, concrete and rebar). We don't do asphalt because the fume requires special ventilation and, since this is CA, we can't just throw away the end by products in the trash bin. On the other hand, as far as I know, we are the only lab in S.D. county that still perform thin sections for mineralogy under electron microscope, permeability test and triaxial shear.

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I'm more amazed that there is a road construction design magazine.

It has been around for 130 years. We also have trenchless construction, mining, utilities, equipment, solar builder, plumbing & mechanical, seismic retrofit, underground construction, etc. You name one aspect of the construction industry, and there is probably a publication dedicated to it.

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they also are not built to withstand the next ice age... Fix'em as they need repairs really all you can do.

The point is that we want to minimize that Fix'em part.

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Are they in anyway affiliated with Walls and Fences magazine? XD

There is a World Fence News, and they also publish the Fencer's Almanac.

[cuafpr]

Our small engineering company has a full-service material testing lab (soil, rock, concrete and rebar). We don't do asphalt because the fume requires special ventilation and, since this is CA, we can't just throw away the end by products in the trash bin. On the other hand, as far as I know, we are the only lab in S.D. county that still perform thin sections for mineralogy under electron microscope, permeability test and triaxial shear.

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It has been around for 130 years. We also have trenchless construction, mining, utilities, equipment, solar builder, plumbing & mechanical, seismic retrofit, underground construction, etc. You name one aspect of the construction industry, and there is probably a publication dedicated to it.

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The point is that we want to minimize that Fix'em part.

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There is a World Fence News, and they also publish the Fencer's Almanac.

imo i wouldn't' tear up a road in good shape just to make better for climate change.... but when the time comes to fix one make he improvements then.

[Rasulis]

imo i wouldn't' tear up a road in good shape just to make better for climate change.... but when the time comes to fix one make he improvements then.

The research is intended to address future design.

As it is we already have to modify our design approach in San Diego for certain projects. For example bridge freeboard design calculations, scour estimates for foundation design, and storm drain ocean outfall design. During the 2013 storm in S.D., combined with high tide and high surf, the sea level raised approximately 8 feet above a storm drain outfall that we designed in 2002 – 2003, causing major backsurge in the twin box (each measured 12' by 12') storm drain culvert. Lets say when it was all done the street did not look good. This was La Jolla also.

[Endus]

The research is intended to address future design.

As it is we already have to modify our design approach in San Diego for certain projects. For example bridge freeboard design calculations, scour estimates for foundation design, and storm drain ocean outfall design. During the 2013 storm in S.D., combined with high tide and high surf, the sea level raised approximately 8 feet above a storm drain outfall that we designed in 2002 – 2003, causing major backsurge in the twin box (each measured 12' by 12') storm drain culvert. Lets say when it was all done the street did not look good. This was La Jolla also.

This is especially true when you consider longer-term infrastructure. Roads are resurfaced every 20 years or so, but things like street trees are expected to mostly live 50+ years. Same for things like power plants, highway bridge structures, etc. And you can't design those things for the conditions of today, you have to design them for the conditions at the end of their expected lifespan, or they'll run into problems before they reach that point.

There was a presentation at a national conference I attended a couple years back about street trees in Toronto, looking at peak temperatures in the city and how they were expected to change in the next 70 years, and the range of temperatures that approved tree species for planting could handle. And they showed that of the several dozen species, only about 5 were going to survive conditions in 50 years. So if we recognize that now, we can change the approved species to allow for that adjustment, rather than seeing heat waves kill off huge chunks of the city's greenery.

[Xandrigity]

I am shocked! That there is a magazine called roads and bridges........

[Alvito]

But the climate ain't changing, Rush Limbaugh said so.

As he went running out the door to get the hell out of Florida.

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You are telling me that roads built for 120 degrees cant with stand temperatures of 121 degrees?

It isn't like it is going to turn into ash, but it is going to break down faster. Even if it was just pushed to the max more frequently that would speed up the decay of the roads. Another major issue is the size/weight of vehicles on the road and the frequency of them.

[Manabomb]

Not really no... most tend to cherry pick data hard and use extremely limited sample sizes.

Even with data for 100 years a few degrees of temperature variation for specific dates are not a sign of our doom approaching us.

I didn't know that literally all atmospheric and climate data collected since we began computer monitoring was "cherry picked".

Meanwhile, water turns frogs gay. More at 11.

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As he went running out the door to get the hell out of Florida.

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It isn't like it is going to turn into ash, but it is going to break down faster. Even if it was just pushed to the max more frequently that would speed up the decay of the roads. Another major issue is the size/weight of vehicles on the road and the frequency of them.

Couple in with the fact autonomous driving will mean much, much more road activity in the coming future, in combination with higher and higher speed limits being set by states (Oregon just set freeway limits to 75 and wtf people are fucking stupid at these speeds.) it means that asphalt wear is only going to increase at a faster pace than 40 years ago.

[Mafic]

Roads are resurfaced more frequently regardless of climate change.

Primary reason is to recycle the old for a new asphalt and whatever other aggregate they decide to use.

[Garnier Fructis]

This thread is fucking pathetic. A whole band of armchair engineers have sprung up because they're triggered by actual engineers addressing reality.

[Deleted]

Wo do you mean with "we"? It differs greatly between countries.

I don't see the NEtherlands suffer from extreme heat or drought in this century, so our roads will be just fine.

[segara82]

Wo do you mean with "we"? It differs greatly between countries.

I don't see the NEtherlands suffer from extreme heat or drought in this century, so our roads will be just fine.

True, but your roads need to be very resistant to humidity or outright flooding. If sealevels continue to rise you could use your roads as a base for canals like in Venecia


Edit: brain faster than thingers

[Puupi]

The roads here are made to withstand the temperature changes from -40 C to +40 C. A degree or two isn't going to make a difference.

Obviously roads here are massively more expensive than they are in warmer countries where they just throw asphalt on the ground and call it a road. Those roads won't withstand temperature differences.

[Themius]

The roads here are made to withstand the temperature changes from -40 C to +40 C. A degree or two isn't going to make a difference.

Obviously roads here are massively more expensive than they are in warmer countries where they just throw asphalt on the ground and call it a road. Those roads won't withstand temperature differences.

I find it odd non engineers telling engineers it is no big deal...

[Najnaj]

Its caused by every living thing... your notion of what it is... well I have a feeling you would point at a car.

You champion causes you barely understand..

It has been caused by every living, and some not living, thing for millions if not billions of years. In the last 100 or so years we have started to dig up carbon rich material (coal, oil, gas) out of the ground and turning it in to gas (co2, one of many well documented greenhouse gases) by burning it. In the same time we have experienced a rapid temperature rise. That the production of huge amounts greenhouse gas and the temperature raise would be unrelated is a silly thing to claim and not really debatable by anyone but a total fool.



What can be debated is what happens next. We have seen some reports of increased vegetation across the globe and we know that co2 is very important to plant life. We do not know how much co2 they can actually absorb and the effects of this. We also do not know what will happen to sea levels no matter how certain photographers of sad polar bears might be. We do not know how much warmer the planet will get.

Having said that, pretty much everything we do to combat global warming is good for us and good for the planet anyway, right or wrong.